Educational Empowerment

• An Internship Reflection: Growing Together with Our Youth

  By: Kenny Lam, DC Elementary School Program Intern Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff Over the duration of my internship I learned how to interact with elementary-aged children in the school environment, in addition to working with AALEAD staff to create age-appropriate lesson plans. My experience with AALEAD has taught me that youth development is not a one-way conversation in which we pour knowledge into children’s brains, but rather a two-way conversation that allows both the youth and t

• Celebrate Our Stories, Our History

  By Neel Saxena, AALEAD Executive Director Photos Courtesy of Various Sources   Every May, the Asian Pacific American (APA) community gears up for

• Letters Of Care

  By Saadia Ahmad, DC Elementary School Program Coordinator Photos courtesy of AALEAD Staff

  This picture represents joy

• Aspire to LEAD 2018: Rooted in our past, creating our future

  By Ha Nguyen, Development and Communications Associate
  Photos and Videos Courtesy of AALEAD staff

   

  On April 6, 2018, we hosted our annual breakfast fundraiser Aspire to LEAD at the Top of the Town conference facility. This annual event is an opportunity for the AALEAD Board Members and Staff to gather with our community members and share with them the stories of our AALEAD youth.

   

  Joint Program with Promising Futures – experience and what youth learned

  By Stephanie Lim, DC Middle & High School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Stephanie Lim   What happens when two youth-serving organizations come together? Recently, a group of AALEAD’s DC Middle & High School youth had an opportunity to lead a joint program with youth from P

• Practicing Leadership Through Facilitation

  By Diane Bui, MD High School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff One of the most exciting leadership opportunities AALEAD youth have is the chance to serve on our yearly youth council. Youth meet on a monthly basis to discuss what they hope to accomplish in programs, and help support planning events for their fellow AALEAD peers.

  Aspire to LEAD 2018

  By Neel Saxena, Executive Director Aspire to LEAD is about getting involved with Asian American LEAD to impact the lives of low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youth. One of the ways to get involved is joining AALEAD at a powerful 1-hour fundraising breakfast on April 6, 2018 at 8:30 am at Top of the Town in Arlington, VA. You will learn about the amazing impact our programming is having on our low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American young pe

• Black and Asian Pacific American Solidarity – a history of resistance

  By Mecca McPherson, MD Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff In 1926, Black History Month was first established in by

• Getting in Touch with Our Roots

  By Pallavi Rudraraju, VA Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Pallavi Rudraraju   As you may know, AALEAD’s theme for this 2017-2018 school year is “AALEAD Origins: Rooted in Our Past, Creating Our Future.” Our goal is to learn about our past and use it to create the future we want to see in the world. For the past few weeks in the VA MS After School Program, we have been focusing on just that!  

  Reflections of a Student on the College Mentoring Program

  by Aisha M., Current AALEAD Student at Montgomery College Photo Courtesy of AALEAD Staff I was  recently matched with a coach three months ago, and I am very excited to get to know her on a personal level and to learn her educational experiences, current job, and life stories. My coach's name is Donna, and she received her Master of Public Health at George Washington University. She now works at A Wider Circle, an non-profit organization that helps families get out of poverty by providing w